


Fitting In

by saltyhealer



Category: Red vs. Blue
Genre: Gen, allison church memorial children's hospital, hospital au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-05
Updated: 2013-11-05
Packaged: 2017-12-31 13:55:37
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,413
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1032473
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/saltyhealer/pseuds/saltyhealer
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nurse Washington is still trying to find his way around the children’s hospital and eventually finds himself with a shadow.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Fitting In

Washington had only working been working at the Allison Church Memorial Children’s Hospital for a month before he met Caboose.

His morning is a late one, Connie banging on his door, telling him to get up and a mad rush that involves a few pieces of burnt toast, half a brushed mouth and running down the stairs three at a time before trying to reach the trains on time. Once on the train he’s trying to arrange his hair in his fingerprint covered reflection until its time to get out.

The hospital was fairly new, a brightly coloured building that overlooked the city and it was bustling with people as Wash hurried inside and up to the Butch Flowers wing, climbing the stairs and finally to the staff room where he could change, get ragged on by some of the other nurses and just barely make it to the nine am check up with his first patient.

A month was enough time to know his way around but still be a fish floundering on the shore making his way steadily to the sea. He was working the long-term care unit so Wash knew every single one of the patients pretty well and it helped with the settling in to see the same kids everyday. Favourite jello types, their meds, and whoever needed him to stay a little longer after each session were some of the first things Wash learnt before he had the whole layout of the hospital memorised.

Getting used to the kids was easier than fitting in with the rest of the staff at least. Kids were just happy to have someone visiting them everyday whereas doctors, nurses, and other stuff were sometimes getting off of long twelve-hour shifts and didn’t have time to chat with the new guy.

It wasn’t like he was alone, he just oozed “new guy” and the other members of his shift took full advantage of him in a form of mild hazing, namely by ignoring his introduction of “Hi, I’m David” and saddled him with a nickname. State names were a tradition in the Butch Flowers long-term care wing so David was hidden behind a label that read WASHINGTON. Nurse Washington working under Doctor Carolina, and who was supposed to report to head nurse York and hand all his paperwork into Hospital Admin North and not get in the way of a certain surgeon named South.

The states took a few days to get fixed in his head and he thought it might be a prank but they all called each other by these state names so maybe he was just kind of fitting in. 

Washington was too long so Wash was adapted by most of the kids and as he settled in he realised that Wash was better than his nickname in nursing school ‘Davey’. Being Wash meant that he was starting to fit in despite the casual nagging from the other staff members. Besides, David was a stuffy name and the kids loved calling him Washy.

Which… Wasn’t exactly better than Davey but was an improvement. Or at least that’s what he told himself when he heard Doctor Carolina called him “Nurse Washy”.

Only one kid called him Washington.

Caboose was kind of an oddball, all things considered. Not quite on the ball like everyone else. More like he was on the rombus while everyone else was on a ball.

Wash noticed him really for the first time when he found Caboose covered in medical gloves in the break room. Staring at the kid, Wash frowned. “Hey Caboose.”

“Hello Nurse Washington.” Caboose said, looking at him, a glove perched in his blonde hair.

“You want to explain why you’re in here and covered in gloves?”

Caboose was quick to hush him. “Were playing hide and seek. Me and Grif.”

Wash sighed, walking over to crouch next to the young boy. “Are you… You decided to play hide and seek with Grif?”

“We play all the time,” Caboose said, “I am very good. I win every time.”

The nurse made a mental note to talk to Grif about this. “Probably because you’re a pretty top notch hider Caboose.”

Wash didn’t think those big blue eyes would get any wider but they did. “You really think I’m a good hider, Nurse Washington?”

“Yeah… You’re good. I don’t get the gloves though.”

“Camouflage.”

After that, Wash couldn’t get ride of Caboose. From the time his shift started to the time he was signing out, Caboose was there to say hello and goodbye. He toddled along while Wash checked up on other kids, caught up with North and York, had coffee break with south when he shift was ending. Everyone was good to Caboose, even South which Wash considered nothing short of a miracle.

Wash didn’t have the heart to tell him to go away since the boy was so… Quiet. Wash didn’t want to stop on something so… Weirdly pure.

Besides, Wash was pretty sure Caboose wasn't the most popular kid at the hospital. There was Grif and Simmons who had been there the longest and formed their own kind of pair that bickered nearly constantly but still sat with each other and competed viciously on the xbox. The other kid under Doctor Carolina that Wash was growing familiar with was Tucker who had said 'You're not a hot nurse' when they'd first been introduced and was steadily grating on Wash's nerves.

Tucker was too busy trying to ignore Caboose and Caboose wasn't exactly a fan of Tucker either, so the only positive interaction that Wash saw Caboose receiving was either from him or the kind woman that stopped by every Friday afternoon to drop off a care package that contained fresh cookies, a letter, and a new picture book.

The picture book was usually devoured over the next two days along with the cookies (sometimes Wash had to help him with some of the harder words and in return he'd get one of delicious cookies in return so he didn't really mind). The letter was always on a Wednesday afternoon when he had one of his longer dialysis sessions and he had time to sit and read. It was the only time Wash didn't have Caboose at his feet so he'd stop by his room to make sure he was okay.

“Nice shadow you’ve got there,” Doctor Carolina had been largely indifferent towards Caboose but Wash knew that she was going to say something at some point.

“Yeah he’s… Nice. Chilled out kid.” He glanced over his shoulder to see Caboose talking to Simmons. “He likes seeing me. Plus I’m in charge of his meds so I might as well see him.”

Carolina watched him, a slight upturn to her lips. “It’s a good thing Wash,” she put a chart away near the admin desk, North leaning back to pluck it up, a phone wedged between his shoulder and ear. “Means you’re fitting in.”

That was big praise from her and Wash beamed while she grabbed a new file, starting to look through it. “Everyone gets a kid at one point that loves them, part of long-term care.”

Wash blinked and looked back at Caboose who finally noticed him, starting towards them mid Simmon’s sentence. “Uh yeah. Thanks Carolina.”

“Welcome to the family,” the doctor said dryly as Caboose reached them.

“Good morning Nurse Washington,” Caboose chirruped, gaze flicking to the doctor. “…and Mister Carolina.”

“It’s Doctor,” Carolina said, looking down at him, “And good morning Caboose.” There was maybe a pleasant tone and the kid smile d at that. “Wash we’ve got a new patient in today. “Texas said he’s high priority so I’m going to take him on and you’re coming along.”

“I can do whatever you need Doctor.”

The doctor led them down the hall, reviewing the folder as Wash walked behind her, Caboose trailing along a few feet behind them. "It's a bad case of amnesia and he's got some sight problems too," she said, turning up charts and scanning them, "car accident had him in intensive care for a week and now he's here to recover."

"What's his name?" Wash asked as Carolina stopped in front of an open door and stiffened at once and he almost ran into her. He glanced inside and sighed a bit. "Doctor Texas I didn't think you were in today?"

The blonde looked up from the patient's bedside and stood, quickly fixing her high ponytail while Carolina continued to stare into the room, only snapped out of it when Wash elbowed her lightly. "Just making sure he's settling in alright. He's still sleeping but should be waking up soon."

She walked towards them and Wash made a space for her but she stopped in front of Carolina, giving her a nod. "Make sure you take good care of him, Annabelle. He's going to need a lot of support."

Texas was one of the few people that used real names, most likely because she was one of the senior doctors that oversaw the wing, but it was still weird to hear Carolina's real name. The redhead just gave a nod in return, shoulders pulled tight. "Of course Doctor, I'll do my best."

There was a moment of awkwardness between them which Wash tried to not be apart of and Texas left a moment later, Wash sighing heavily, starting to the room while Carolina lingered at the door before following. Caboose sat on a stool near the door. He was always good about staying out of the way, sitting with his hands on his knees as he kicked his legs idly, watching them work.

The patient in the bed looked pale, not just from sickness. His head was wrapped in bandages and the machines around him hummed quietly as he shifted in his sleep. "Leonard Church... Huh, weird coincidence." He stuck the the chart on the end of his bed while Carolina circled him, reading the xrays again until she leaned over, putting her hand on the edge of the bed.

"Leonard?" She said and the boy shifted in his bed, hands grabbing the sheets. "It's going to be-"

"Why is it dark?" His voice was quiet, probably from disuse and he coughed a bit, "who turned out the lights? Why can't I see? I thought I was in a hospital what is this bullshit?"

Wash and Carolina exchanged a look. "I'm Doctor Carolina and-"

"Where's Allison?" Leonard asked and Carolina grimaced almost at once. "She's my doctor."

"Doctor Allison has important things to do," Carolina almost grit the words out. "She put me in charge of you. And this is nurse Washington."

"Hi," Wash said and the head of bandages turned towards him and he swallowed a little because that was a little disconcerting. "I'll be doing the day to day stuff."

Leonard slumped back into his pillows. "Uh huh. Carolina and Washington? Didn't know I was at the United States Hospital."

There was a small snort of laughter from the door and Wash looked over to see Caboose chuckling, little hands pressed over his mouth. Leonard sat up a bit in his bed when he heard the laugh, turning his head towards the laughter. "Don't be silly," Caboose slid off his stool, wandering to the bed, head just barely clearing the side of it. "That is not their real names it is their last names. I am Caboose, but my first name is Michael."

"Caboose is a dumb name." Leonard sat up, the IVs at his wrists moving as he set his hands down. "And you don't sound like a doctor, you sound like a little kid."

Wash is pretty sure he's never seen Caboose look so sad, even when they didn't have lime jello last week, he's worried that this new kid is just going to crush him-

"But I guess Michael's a pretty dumb name too." Leonard's hand twitches and Caboose touches the side of it curiously, tugging at the medical bracelet around his wrist. "And I hate the name Leonard so if everyone's going to have dumb names I might as well have one too."

Caboose smiled, tapping his hand against Leonard's wrist. "What's your name gonna be?" And the big blue eyes glance between Carolina and Wash and he leans up on the bed to whisper-not-so-quietly into Leonard's ear, "I wanna know what it is first. Because we're gonna be best friends."

"Dude you can't just call best friends."

"Yes I can."

Wash and Carolina exchanged another look and Leonard sighed, leaning down to whisper something into Caboose's ear. The young blond smiled at the name, bouncing on his heels and relaxed down. "That is a good name." He said finally.

Turning around, he walked to the door, grabbing the stool and started the long journey of pushing it to the side of the bed until Carolina helped him, picking it up and placed it next to Leonard's bed. Caboose scrambled up now sitting eyelevel with Leonard.

"Okay, now that we are best friends I am going to tell you about everyone around here okay? Because that is what best friends do and you look like you will be here for a long time and you probably need to know who is who."

Wash was too absorbed in watching this weird friendship(?) starting and almost didn't noticed Carolina starting to leave just as Caboose was starting on Tucker who was literally the worst person in the whole hospital and no you really shouldn't be his friend because he's the worst and he's really mean.

"Doctor, are you really okay with leaving Caboose with Leonard?" Wash asked, lowering his voice as he shut the door a little, "I mean-"

Carolina held up a hand. "Leonard is going to be here for a while. It's best that he actually settles in. Caboose has been here a long time and he's not a trouble maker like Tucker so it’ll be good for them to pair up."

"...Alright, if you're sure." Wash said and his boss just gave him a stern look before turning away, saying they had more patients to visit and Wash looks into Leonard's room one more time to see Caboose's little legs kicking in excitement, chattering away while Leonard had slumped back into his pillows but Wash could swear that there was a slight upturn to his lips as Caboose babbles on.

"Don't worry, we're gonna be best friends, Church."


End file.
